Getting Connected to Accessdev

NCI Account

The ACCESS research model is exclusively run at ​NCI, the National Computational Infrastructure. NCI provide supercomputing access to Australian researchers through a merit-based allocation scheme. You will need a NCI account to use the ACCESS model, to register visit their ​account management page.

Through the account management system you can also request to join project groups, which is how compute and storage grants are managed. This is where you can connect to your group's compute project. For details on how to create a new project please see NCI's information pages.

For information on how to use NCI's facilities, including how to log in, the different storage systems and how to submit jobs to the supercomputer queue see NCI's ​supercomputer user's guide.

NCI provide support to users via an email helpdesk to assist with general issues at help@nf.nci.org.au. The ACCESS community also has a specialist helpdesk at access_help@nf.nci.org.au for issues specific to the ACCESS model.

ACCESS Group Membership

As the ACCESS model contains licensed software we require users to register before using the model. To register ​request to join the ACCESS group on NCI's account system. We may contact you to verify your use of the model is covered by the licence.

Joining the ACCESS group provides access to the Accessdev server, used to configure and run models, and to the model input and ancillary data which is stored on Raijin. The ACCESS group also has a variety of climate-science related software available, beyond Raijin's default modules.

Met Office Account

To access the source code for the atmospheric component of ACCESS, the UK Met Office's Unified Model, as well as the database of model configurations, please ask access_help@nf.nci.org.au for an account on ​https://code.metoffice.gov.uk. This site is a shared development platform for all groups using the Unified Model, and provides access to ticketing systems where you can track ​science and ​model code changes.

You are welcome to create new code branches in the shared environment once you have an account, however please read and follow the ​working practices of the model when you do so.

Request a Met Office Account from access_help@nf.nci.org.au

CABLE Account

To access the source code for CABLE, the land surface model used in ACCESS, you will need to ​register with the CABLE group at NCI. For routine use you won't need to do this, there are pre-compiled versions of the model available in the ACCESS area on Raijin. You can find more information about CABLE at ​https://trac.nci.org.au/trac/cable.

MOM

You can find information about the MOM ocean model, the ocean component of ACCESS, at ​http://mom-ocean.org. There is no need to register to access the model's source code.

Required Software

X11

While Rose has a command-line interface available the best way to use it is via its graphical interface. To use this your computer will need X11 support. Linux computers come with this by default, for Windows and Mac computers you may need extra software.

You can check if X11 is working by running:

ssh -X abc123@raijin.nci.org.au xclock

replacing abc123 with your NCI username. If X11 is working you will get a window with a little clock in it, if it isn't you'll get Error: Can't open display.

While we don't provide support for your workstation the following software enables X11 on Mac and Windows:

VNC Access

If you are on a high latency connection, for instance when connecting from overseas, X11 may become extremely slow. In this case you can try using ​CWSLab's VNC desktops, which are more efficient on slow connections. Once connected to a virtual desktop you can then connect to Accessdev. ​http://vdi.nci.org.au/help

SSH & SSH Agent

In order to create secure connections between Accessdev and Raijin you'll need to have a SSH agent running on your workstation. See our SSH guide for details on how to set this up.

GPG Agent

To securely store your Met Office password for the UM code and configuration browsers you need to set up a GPG agent on Accessdev. To set up your account to see the Rose database and UM source code run

mosrs-setup

Once you have run the setup program you can relog into Accessdev and run

mosrs-auth

to save your Met Office password for 12 hours.

Checking your Configuration

To check your configuration is working correctly, and that Rose will be able to submit model runs to the Raijin supercomputer, you can run the command:

check-access-setup

This will perform a variety of checks, with suggestions on how to best fix any issues: